Reason ex-gangster Darren Gee hasn't spoken to brother Daniel 'in years'

Notorious Liverpool gangland figures Darren and Daniel Gee “haven’t spoken in years” after one of them turned his back on a life of crime. In the early 2000s, the pair presided over a 24-hour open air drug market centered around Everton's Grizedale estate, where they had grown up.

Daniel was most recently in the news when he was caught in Wigan after escaping from Kirklevington Grange prison over the summer. He’s now resuming the indeterminate sentence imposed by a court in 2010 “for the public's protection” following his conviction for firearms offences But his brother Darren’s life has taken a very different turn.

He told the Daily Express’s On the Edge podcast that he wasn’t evil by nature. He said: “I'm not this nasty violent {person]. When as a kid I was kind and loving – nothing nasty about me. It was my environment that started poisoning my energy and making me horrible.”

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The drugs empire that Darren and his brother built inevitably came into conflict with rival Merseyside gangs. On New Year's Day 2004, there was a double shooting in the Royal Oak pub in West Derby. One man died and another was left fighting for his life.

Darren, thought to have been the target of a revenge attack in April of that year, escaped with his life after former SAS officer Darren Waterhouse fired multiple shots at his car – but one of his associates – 18-year-old Craig Barker – was killed and two others were injured.

Further killings followed as the gang war escalated and a special police unit was assembled to take down the Gees. There were major confrontations between the criminals and police as they vied for control of the streets on the Grizedale.

Darren was jailed for 18 years after being convicted of organising the murder of David Regan, who was shot dead in 2004. Darren later said he organised the shooting because he wrongly believed that the victim had been involved in the murder of one of his friends.

Darren is now a true crime podcaster and anti-knife campaigner, who says he has completely turned his back on his former life of crime – but that means cutting ties with his brother: “Danny, I haven’t spoken to him for years.

“I spoke to him when I first got out of prison in 2016, I told him what was what, and to decide what side of the fence you're on. He chose to remain with his boys so ...’See you later – I’m living this life, you can stay in that life’.”